Scorpion 4x08 Review: "Faire is Foul" (Historical Inaccuracy) [Guest Contributor: Yasmine]

“Faire is Foul”

Original Airdate: November 13, 2017

This episode just may be one of the most entertaining Scorpion episodes to date. It is Sly’s twenty-fifth birthday and of course the only way to celebrate it is by everyone donning the most awesome outfits and heading out to the Renaissance Faire. Sly’s day hadn’t started spectacularly. Sly had his hearing to dismiss charges in Cabe’s case and he failed miserably in his appeal. Sly took his failure hard, but lucky for him, he has a supportive and understanding client who believes in him no matter what. Cabe tells him to forget about the hearing and focus on his birthday plans.

Sly is not the only one Cabe dishes advice to before the team head off to the Faire. He takes Toby under his wing and offers him advice, tips, and tricks on getting Happy pregnant. The conversation is equal parts hilarious and awkward, but that’s just Cabe’s fatherly role kicking in. And he continues to have a great day by most standards — taking out the bad guy while jousting on horseback — and admits to his geek side and his love for the show Chair of Blades.

While Sylvester is in his groove at the Faire, Happy and Toby are too busy trying to find a place to hide and work on making that baby. Cabe and Paige are both determined to have a good time (and do manage to find it enjoyable), but Walter is too busy pointing out all the historical inaccuracies of the event to be able to enjoy it.

But soon enough, no one else can enjoy the day either. Gang members blow the generator on site in order to access the LAPD warehouse nearby. This causes roads to be blocked and, with any help very far away, it’s up to Team Scorpion to save the day — including an injured cop at the warehouse — and the Renaissance Faire. With no modern tools and facilities because the fair is authentic and keeps everything true to the age, the team has to really think outside the box and stretch all their skills and talents to be able to stop the gang members and save the injured cop, as well as protect the piece of evidence the gang members are after.

The team cannot do what they need to do alone and have to recruit some of the remaining Faire guests to help them out. But when the civilians voice their worry and their lack of enthusiasm to help — and no one can blame them as they are unarmed geeks facing two gangsters with weapons — it is up to one person to rally the troops.

On the heels of his bad morning in court, Sly is unsure he is the man for the job. But with Cabe’s support and backing, he gives and inspired speech proving his leadership skills and that when he sets his mind to it, he can do anything. The team and their recruits manage to keep the cop alive with a medieval defibrillator and then build a plan to stop the gangsters that can only be described as something straight out of slapstick comedy.

And again that’s one of the strengths of this show: it’s a show about geniuses using science and math and all that, but still doesn’t itself too seriously.

The team hand the gangsters off to the authorities and head back to the garage to continue the festivities for Sly’s birthday. Toby admits to Happy that he bought a pregnancy amulet from the fair and she admits there is nothing to lose by wearing it.

Elsewhere, grumpy Walter’s education in relationships continues and this week the lesson is “you don’t need to change yourself to be in a relationship.” The episode opens with him trying to write a song for Paige to make up for that date when he acted horribly. His first attempt is dreadful, to say the least, and he recruits Happy for advice. The advice she gives him is simple: write from the heart. His second attempt is much better — beautiful, actually — but after Paige tells him she doesn’t want him to pretend to be someone he’s not to be her boyfriend, Walter decides to toss away the tape and follow her advice.

Incidentally, the tape doesn’t land in the trash and instead slides under the bed, maybe disappearing there to make an appearance at a later time.

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Once Upon A Time 7x06 Review: “Wake Up Call” (The Queen is Back) [Contributor: Julia Siegel]

“Wake Up Call”

Original Airdate: November 10, 2017

It’s time for another wake-up potion to come into play, meaning we are one character closer to getting to the point where things can actually start happening. At this rate, we will be lucky to have a real story start by the second half of the season. The only interesting thing to come out of this episode is the realization that the curse in Hyperion Heights may be better off left unbroken. However, we all know that’s not going to happen.

DRIZELLA’S CURSE

Oddly enough, Drizella was the one who cast the curse, not Lady Tremaine as it had seemed. Even more surprising, Drizella actually has magic powers, like Regina. Back in the fairy tale flashbacks, Regina takes Drizella under her wing and becomes the magic teacher she never had. Unfortunately, like most people with magic, Drizella favors her hatred for her mother and starts a downward spiral of doom and gloom.

Her spiraling is what appears to eventually allow her to form the curse, which she vows will be unbreakable. Cue the eye roll because if there really was an unbreakable curse, the show would be over. Plus, this is still a fairy tale show, so evil isn’t going to win. What doesn’t make sense is why Drizella wasn’t awake under the curse the whole time, which implies that something may have gone wrong. She decides to put her master plan into action in Hyperion Heights by waking up Regina, who she inexplicably hates. Now that Rumple and Regina are awake, only Hook has to gain his memories back for the party to begin.

A NEW LEAF

I have hated almost all of the non-sequential flashback scenes so far, but I found this episode’s to be lightyears better. For starters, seeing Regina recognizing herself in Drizella and trying to help her was a great character moment. She has truly proven that she has chosen the hero path and isn’t looking back. Regina has had the biggest character arc over the series, so it is nice to see its continual evolution.

The other part of the flashbacks that was entertaining is a brief scene between Regina and Rumple. Coming pretty much out of thin air, Rumple has crossed realms and finds the camp that Regina, Hook, and Henry have become a part of. Rumple and Regina share a touching moment where he reveals his path to goodness. While it is nice to see Rumple’s turned leaf, he doesn’t appear to be too nice in Hyperion Heights.

This episode has also proven that the show can still be decent if it limits the use of its new characters. When the three returning cast members are on screen, things are great. However, most of the new characters are annoying. At this point, I only find Lucy and sometimes Drizella tolerable. At least the show is making more attempts each week to not be as stale.

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Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 3x06 Review: "Josh Is Irrelevant." (A Diagnosis) [Contributor: Anne]

"Josh Is Irrelevant"

Original Airdate: November 17, 2017

In interviews, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend showrunners Aline Brosh McKenna and Rachel Bloom mentioned that the last three episodes were some of the most pivotal and important episodes thus far — and the ones that they were most excited to write. That enthusiasm has paid off in huge dividends. I’ve been an advocate of this show from the very beginning, but with “Josh Is Irrelevant.,” the sixth episode of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s third season, it’s hard not to draft the petition for Rachel Bloom and company to take home their deserved armful of Emmys. The show is on its hottest streak ever.

What stands out to me the most of this season is the thoughtfulness with which everything is handled. As a heavily serialized show, consistency and care go a long way in building trust for the viewers. And although I was never in this boat, the consistency and care demonstrated over two-and-a-half seasons established a solid foundation for converting skeptical viewers to stalwart fans. This show is good — meticulous, empathetic. So what if it’s a CW musical dramedy called Crazy Ex-Girlfriend; in the end, all of these initial hurdles for casual viewers are necessary, lovable parts of the show’s DNA.

The best scene of this episode for me was when Dr. Akopian read to Rebecca the list of symptoms associated with her diagnosis. As she does, Rebecca recalls specific moments throughout the three seasons that fit those symptoms. That’s the kind of consistency that I would call “thoughtful.” Mental illness is so misunderstood in society, and often misrepresented in television and movies. It is sensationalized, stigmatized, and generalized. But the situation is a lot more nuanced than that, and by a) making a solid case for Rebecca’s diagnosis while b) making her empathetic along the way, the character is fully-fleshed and her diagnosis intrinsic instead of drama for the sake of drama.

So there’s thoughtfulness of the story and its pacing; there’s thoughtfulness behind handling a topic as sensitive as mental illness; there’s thoughtfulness of all the character’s decisions, in a way to make even our protagonist — who is objectively not the best person — into someone we really love. These threads all entwine again and again while watching this show and make even smaller moments feel well-constructed.

Here’s another favorite of mine: Did you notice that the staging of the reconciliation with Darryl at the end of the episode is exactly the same as the episode where Rebecca is yelling at everyone? That they hug in the same place where (I guess) days before, Rebecca was doing everything in her power to push her friends away.

Or a third little moment: That Rebecca apologizes for “inconveniencing a lot of people,” the same phrase that was said by her mother in the pilot in reference to her last suicide attempt?

With these small choices, the show makes clear it understands itself, repeating for emotional emphasis and nuance. There’s little threads to pick at and consider. With the hugging scene, there’s obviously stark contrast between what Rebecca believed during her friend-convention — that nobody loved her — with what she knows now to be the truth. That’s so moving given Rebecca’s history of abandonment and loneliness, and resounding for viewers with mental illness to experience. With the second, it’s easy to hate Naomi for the comment — small phrases like that can stick around — but we just got off an episode where Naomi was driven to desperate, misguided measures to make sure her daughter didn’t kill herself. No one in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is worth hating, or unworthy of redemption.

Speaking of, I think moving forward I am the most excited for Josh’s plot. Josh has been vilified even when he logically did not at all deserve Rebecca’s treatment of him. As a viewer, I too hate Josh a little bit. But Josh is simple and passive and immature in a callous way. And unlike Rebecca, he’s never really had to confront his issues because he moves onto whatever next distraction he can find for himself. Now that Rebecca has declared him irrelevant, and it is Josh on the outside looking in, his “effortless normalcy” is going to require some effort.

I can’t wait. I’ve never really seen a character like Josh before on TV, and definitely have never seen an easygoing character like him have to deal with his own anxiety. And once the show gets to that point, there will be huge relief. It’s been incredibly obvious to anyone watching that Josh is imperfect to say the least, and over time we’ve seen even Rebecca realize he is not worthy of obsession. Finally, we get to see Josh grapple with the consequences of his (non-)actions.

“Josh is Irrelevant.” is a major turning point for the show and for the season. There are so many paths to happiness, and I’m excited about which ones Rebecca will take. She’s had tunnel vision on Josh for so long, and by finally putting her obsession to rest and recognizing that there are more important things on her plate, the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend world expands. At the same time, while there is a turning point for the show and season, I’m confident the show will deliver continued quality, catchy songs, impeccable acting, and a wait between episodes that always feels far, far too long. See you all on December 7th!

Stray Observations:

• Nathaniel obviously went through some stuff this episode, huh? Critically, I thought it was well done, and Scott Michael Foster brought his serious acting chops as always to this alpha tool Mr. Darcy-turned-soft. But my pea brain didn’t love the family scenes as much as I should have. That said, I did love how his mother offered roses for Rebecca. I thought that was sweet and matronly.
• (Pea brain also is obsessed with Nathaniel and Rebecca, even though neither of them should probably be in a relationship right now. But God, did you see his smile when he made her laugh at the end of the episode? I hope they kiss again, and often.)
• (Pea brain also loves Scott Michael Foster, and would go with him to Rome at a moment’s notice.)
• The songs! “A Diagnosis” and “This is My Movement” both very well-sung and quite beautiful, although “This is My Movement” felt out of place in this episode. I get that they were trying to lighten the mood but with the serious emotional depth and earnestness on Rebecca’s end, “Movement” felt clunky.
• I care so much about Rebecca and her story that Paula, Heather, Valencia, and Hector take a serious backseat when I rewatch episodes. But I loved, so much, Rebecca waking up to find #gurlgroup4evah sleeping outside her door. It really is amazing when you consider none of these girls were friends with each other in the pilot.
• I hope Josh keeps the puppy. It was darling.
• This is my first review in a while! Crazy Ex-Girlfriend makes me feel like glitter is exploding inside me, so hopefully I’ll be back for the next episode, which has a very juicy title if you are a spoilers fiend like me.

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The Flash 4x06 Review: "When Harry Met Harry" (I Think This Ep’s Mostly Filler) [Contributor: Deborah MacArthur]

"When Harry Met Harry"

Original Airdate: November 14, 2017 

Technically speaking, last week’s episode was a bit of a filler episode for this season, since we didn’t get a whole lot of season arc plot and it had a (failed) gimmicky premise. But this week takes the cake for filler-ish episodes, and without even a ladies-centric plot or a Drunk Barry Allen to make up for it! Nope — instead, we have an episode revolving around Ralph Dibny, who is simultaneously repellant and uninteresting and I don’t really get why the writers decided to add him onto the team. He’s a sleazy, hedonistic, self-centered person who has to learn how to be a hero and, oh my — where have I seen that exact variety of overdone character before? Hey, TV writers: find some different archetypes, please. I am begging you. Hedonist-to-Hero redemption arcs are so, so, so boring.

BASICALLY THE Z-PLOT

Even though this episode is called “When Harry Met Harry” we don’t actually see a lot of Harrison Wells or the other versions of himself. He calls forth a very Rick and Morty-esque Council of Wells by bringing together Harrison Wells variations from three different parallel Earths, since Harry can’t make friends and he thinks the smartest people to brainstorm with are... him. They’re meant to be discussing the problem of DeVoe but they can’t stop bickering amongst themselves long enough to formulate anything resembling a plan, and Harry realizes that he actually hates himself too much to get along with these parallel versions. Also very much reminiscent of Rick from Rick and Morty. Have the Flash writers been binge-watching?

I like this sequence because Tom Cavanagh is hilarious as the four different versions of Harrison Wells — Harry, a lothario Harrison Wells, an intellectual German Harrison Wells, and a cyborg Harrison Wells with a touch of the Mad Max — but I don’t quite understand why something like this wasn’t saved for a different episode, where it could maybe stand out a bit more and get fleshed into a real character piece for Harry, maybe with some bonus Cisco character growth thrown in. I know I’d definitely prefer to see Harry’s character development over Ralph Dibny’s, not only because Harry is a character who has been around long enough for me to care about his development, but also because he has a much more unique archetype as the cynical/jaded, no-nonsense, genius mentor who has to learn how to be a regular person with regular relationships and new realizations about himself as an individual, beyond the scope of his work. As it stands, the thread that gives the episode its title barely counts as a B-story.

I’M KINDA SIDING WITH THE VILLAIN AND THAT’S PROBABLY NOT GOOD

Meanwhile, in the main part of the episode, Barry is basically babysitting Ralph Dibny because yeah, that’s what you want from an up-and-coming hero. The necessity of a person with morals to follow him around and make sure his borderline sociopathy doesn’t hurt innocent civilians. Why was Wally written out of this show to make room for Ralph Dibny, exactly?

Ralph and Barry almost get mugged, but Dibny’s rubberized existence makes him bulletproof and every time he’s shot, the bullet bounced right back at the robber. I will say one thing positive about the Dibny storyline: it allows for a lot more snark from Barry, which is highly entertaining. That’s pretty much it, though, since Dibny constantly proves himself to be inappropriate and gross and really not all that cut out to be a self-sacrificing hero. I know he’s supposed to have been much transformed by the loss of his job as a detective, but I really can’t believe his personality shifted so completely, so I think this must just be who Dibny is and always will be. Uhg. I do not look forward to this character arc.

Aside from almost getting mugged, Barry and Dibny (and Iris) take a trip to the therapist Iris and Barry used so that Dibny can get hypnotized into remembering who else might have been on that bus that got hit by dark matter. They have to do this because Cisco is prevented from using his Vibe powers to see the incident, which sounds like something of a cop-out for the writer... But I’ll allow it, since at least they brought up the possibility before writing themselves out of using it.

Ralph gets hypnotized and sees a bison patch on a person’s jacket, and that person is our metahuman of the week, Black Bison, whose real name is Mina Chaytan. Mina is of Sioux descent and has taken a turn from her former occupation as a professor in order to work in activism regarding the reacquisition of Sioux artifacts from museums, which is a nice way of saying she steals things. This has only been helped by her newfound power to bring effigies to life, from tiger statues to suits of armor, and use them to kill the people who stand in her way.

I wish The Flash hadn’t so clearly drawn the line with Black Bison by making her a killer. It’s very easy for Barry (and the writers) to say, “she killed people, she’s evil, she goes to jail” and be done with it, especially since the morality and righteousness of her mission makes me sympathize a lot more with her than with Ralph Dibny, who spends the entire episode having to be told that human life is more important than the “win” of catching the bad guy. It would have made a far more interesting story if the show had introduced as a “hero” with an already-skewed moral compass, who then has to wade through the morally gray quagmire of a Sioux woman stealing artifacts that rightfully belong to her people.

As it stands, making Mina/Black Bison an outright murderer takes away the intriguing grayness of her mission and oversimplifies things for Dibny’s sake and for the sake of the viewers. The show trades a compelling story about the scale of right and wrong for simplified black-and-white, and also wastes the tiny amount of potential that having a character with an awful personality and terrible ethics might bring to the table. In the end, we get a sloppy, simple lesson that protecting people is important (duh-doy) and killing people is bad (duh-doy, squared).

Because, yes, Barry and Dibny stop Black Bison’s murder-slash-righteous-theft spree and lock her up with the other bus metas that turned out more evil than good. Considering that Black Bison’s final hurrah was to (awesomely) bring a T-Rex skeleton to life, though, I was still kinda rooting for her.

Other Things:

• The Thinker is revealed to be DeVoe! We already knew this, of course, but Barry et al. finally caught up.
• Cisco’s lesson to Harry is "no one's gonna like you if you don't like yourself first” and suddenly the fact that I have any friends at all is a miracle.
• I do really like this season’s increased number of scenes of Barry doing his actual CSI job, as opposed to just sitting in dark offices and angsting.

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Scorpion 4x07 Review: "Go With the Flo(rence)" (Nerd Warfare) [Guest Contributor: Yasmine]

“Go With the Flo(rence)”

Original Airdate: November 6, 2017

In the seventh episode of the season, Team Scorpion gets an interesting new neighbor and help — then trick — the British government, all while taking huge strides in their personal growth.

Florence, a chemist, moves into the warehouse next door to Team Scorpion and her first neighborly act, as a reaction to them being loud, is to flood their space with a horrible smelling gas through the shared vent. The first meeting with Florence does not go so well and the team members complain about her lack of personal skills, which is absolutely hilarious because she is exactly who they were before Paige came into their lives and started helping them out.

But the neighborly visit does not last too long. The team is quickly contacted and recruited by MI-6 and the British government to help them locate and stop a group of terrorists who have hacked and stolen a British satellite and are planning a terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

The team are led by MI-6 agent Jemma Franklin — a woman who can be most politely described as the least friendly and the least cooperative person to work with — and Paige is quickly to pick up on all her negative vibes. They still manage to find the hacker, but he burns his laptop and sends the key-fob swimming into the sewers. Cabe and Toby take the hacker back to the garage to question him while the others work on locating the fob and trying to stop the satellite. Happy throws Toby’s “Attaboy” keychain — which she has updated with a GPS tracking software — after the fob to help them locate it.

Things get messy and gross with the team tracking in the sewers, as well as for Cabe and Toby, since the hacker refused to cooperate and Florence continues to barge in uninvited. The team eventually manages to redirect the strike and save the day but not without a huge sacrifice from Sylvester. Honestly, this show should be renamed “Sylvester Dodd Overcomes His Fears and Saves the Day” because every week, this young man takes a huge step in overcoming something that has crippled him his whole life and proves that his story is one of the most exciting. This week, Sly finds himself sucked into the sewers with a rodent on his shoulder. And yes, he does panic, but this does not stop him from putting his fear aside and doing what is needed to save the day.

While Sly is on a journey of overcoming his fears, Walter is on an educational one in the art of being in a relationship. I really appreciate how the writers are dealing with the Walter/Paige relationship and not glossing over how hard it is for two such individuals to be together, or Walter’s fears about being in a relationship or his lack of experience in a proper adult relationship. Each week is another baby step and another lesson for the both of them and I think that is great. They obviously love and care for each other, but it’s not enough, and the writers are dealing with it very delicately and respectfully.

This week’s lesson is in the art of communication — in listening to the other person, understanding their needs and not assuming what they want or acting on your own assumptions. It’s a tough lesson for Walter, who starts the episode by replacing all of Paige’s beauty products with a single product that he concocted that he claims will replace all the others. It’s a slow and tough journey but in the end, he does learn the lesson. And this also helps them in stopping the MI-6 agent and the British government from stealing the satellite they had falsely claimed as theirs. Walter tells Paige that he trusted her instincts and the bad vibes she picked off Jemma and had sent the satellite into deep space orbit after stopping the terrorists.

Another relationship that is growing nicely is that of Walter and Ralph. Walter’s role in Ralph’s life is very important and in this episode, they share a sweet moment in which Walter plays the fatherly role and tries to help Ralph out with his crush on Sly’s intern Patty.

Finally, Toby and Happy, who are trying to have a child of their own, continue to prove they have the parenting skills down — even if they’re applying them to the eldest member of the group. As Cabe continues to struggle with the possibility of ending up in prison, Toby tries his best — with Happy supporting him — to get Cabe to talk to him and open up. Cabe isn’t the easiest to crack and not the quickest to share his emotions, but Toby and Happy are not quitting on him and they’re already proving they are going to be great — albeit unconventional — parents.

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Legends of Tomorrow 3x06 Recap: "Helen Hunt" (Freaky Firestorm) [Contributor: Marilyn]

"Helen Hunt"

Original Airdate: November 14, 2017

In this week's episode of Legends of Tomorrow, we open in Hollywood circa 1937. There’s a woman, wowing everyone on the lot. Well, all the men that is. She’s dragged to set where the director and producer are similarly wowed by her. They decide to replace Heddy Lemar, the star of their production, with her. Convenient that they’re shooting a picture about Helen of Troy and she’s the actual Helen of Troy.

On the Waverider, the team can’t find Darhk or Eleanor. Sara instructs Nate to take a shower while Ray continues to help Stein and Jax. He has something to try on them that will hopefully help them separate. The device does something... but it looks like it’s overheating. Before Ray can shut it down, it blasts Stein and Jax, and we learn rather quickly that the two men have switched bodies. They tell the team what happened and hijinks ensue (as they often do on this show).

Meanwhile, Nate finds out about the Helen of Troy anachronism. Sara says they’re going to go fix it and get their mojo back. Except for Jax and Stein, however. She tells them they have to stay on the ship because they’re a liability. In 1937, the team is positioned around the studio and the men on the team, predictably, are slobbering over her. Zari wants to talk to her but Sara insists on recon only. They witness fights break out over her. Helen, overwhelmed, flees the set and the team follows her.

Before they can intercept her, she gets picked up by a man named Eddie Rothguard. Nate points out the similarities to Paris stealing Helen from Menelaus. Zari thought the story was a myth but apparently not so much. Stein-as-Jax lays out the catastrophic consequences that could befall Helen being allowed to take over Hollywood, so they all agree they need to go fetch her. They infiltrate an industry party in hopes of getting a lead. Stein-as-Jax rubs elbows with Heddy, who is more than a bit bitter that Helen is stealing her chance.

Right then, Helen arrives with Eddie and the guys are all distracted by her, predictably. Sara and Zari plot to get Helen away from her entourage. It works but Helen won’t go with them. She’s enjoying Hollywood and her influence there. But then we learn her agent is Damien Darhk. He wants to talk with Sara and promises things will get ugly real fast if she doesn’t agree. So Sara wisely agrees to chat. He wants the Legends to take off and leave Helen where she is. Meanwhile, Amaya faces off with the water totem bearer, Kawasa, who is from Zambezi as well. Threats are made. It’s all very sinister.

The men get in a fight over Helen and Darhk finds it delightful. He thinks its proof that Sara’s team makes a mess out of things. He wants them all to go back to 2017 and return to their lives. Or he’ll kill them all. Back on the Waverider, Sara chews the men out and tells them they need to focus on the real issue. She tells them about Darhk’s offer. Nate is curious why Darhk wants them to stop fixing anachronisms. They don’t know the answer, but they do agree to stick together and fight back.

They go to the mansion where Helen is being held prisoner, pretty much while Jax and Stein banter on the Waverider. It’s cute. I’m really enjoying seeing Stein-as-Jax; he’s hilarious. Sara and the girls get in and find Helen. She doesn’t want to go back to Troy, it was a nightmare there. Then again, things aren’t looking too great in Hollywood either, with men facing off against one another. Helen believes she’s cursed. The women are going to help her but first, they have to break up the fight. Easy, for these ladies.

They bring Helen onto the Waverider and learn that Gideon is offline. Stein and Jax are working on it but not getting too far. Stein explains that the reason the ship’s systems are failing is because of Heddy Lemar. She invented something which, it turns out, is important. They need to get her career back on track so they can fly the Waverider again. Jax-as-Stein heads out to fix it while Zari and Helen talk about their lives. Zari is saddened by Helen’s bleak tale of being locked away all her life.

Jax-as-Stein gets Heddy from the WB switchboard and wants to set her straight but they run into Damien Darhk first. Eleanor figures out that Jax and Stein switched bodies and Darhk is delighted by this. Then he decides to kill him. And probably Heddy as well. The team is ready to come to the rescue. Jax-as-Stein and Heddy are running, hiding from Darhk and Eleanor. He tells Heddy to get to safety, focus on her dreams, and not to worry about him. He’s quickly grabbed by Darhk but the team comes and Sara proposes an old fashioned duel, no magic, just swords.

On the Waverider, Zari accidentally lets Kawasa inside and she and Amaya face off. The rest of hte team attempts to deal with Eleanor but she out-magics them. Heddy is still around, she didn’t run. She urges Jax and Stein to combine their powers. Sara gets the upper hand but Eleanor comes and uses her magic on her and we learn she’s Darhk’s daughter. But before she can kill Sara, Firestorm stops her and pushes her back and away. Darhk and his daughter flee and Firestorm separates. The good news is the men are each back in their own bodies again. The bad news is Sara is in bad shape and needs to get back to the ship.

On the Waverider, Helen hears Amaya fighting Kawasa. Kawasa tells Amaya that she’s her granddaughter — the rightful heir to the animal totem that went to Mari instead. Wow, I did not see that coming! Helen pops up behind Kawasa and stabs her, she transforms to water and is gone.

Heddy gets an acting job at WB and she thanks Stein for his advice and help. The Waverider is back to normal so they must go. Sara is in a coma, to heal. She’ll be fine in a few days. Ray tells Amaya that Kawasa is her granddaughter and she says she knows. She understands he was just trying to protect the timeline. He tells her it’s more complicated than she thinks and he can tell her. She tells him the less she knows, the better. Zari helps Helen practice some knife fighting so she can defend herself back home. Again, she says she doesn’t want to go back there.

So instead, she takes Zari to another place instead — a little island called Themyscira. Well, well, well. Helen is very grateful, especially when she learns there are no men there. And I think that’s possibly a better name drop than Bruce Wayne on Arrow a few weeks ago.

However, the good feelings disappear a little bit when I see next week we’ll be visiting that talking gorilla from The Flash. Dang it. There goes the show. (I’m joking, of course. Mostly.)

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Supergirl 3x06 Review: "Midvale" (Going Home) [Contributor: Deborah MacArthur]

“Midvale”

Original Airdate: November 13, 2017 

Danvers sisters! Always nice to get some focus on the Danvers sisters, but this week’s episode takes us back before they had that strong sisterly bond and were just two bickering teenagers who hated each other. “Midvale” takes place in, logically, Kara and Alex’s hometown (well, hometown for Alex — adopted hometown for Kara) of Midvale. Most of the episode covers a span of time ten years ago, presumably important because it was both the catalyst for Kara’s urge to superhero and the start of Kara and Alex getting along. A little bit of the episode takes place in the present, as Kara has dragged post-breakup Alex back to Midvale to help her recuperate with the help of Eliza Danvers’ home cooking and lots of alcohol.

Considering that so much of the episode takes place in the past, with different actresses playing the roles of Kara and Alex, “Midvale” might be the most unique episode Supergirl has ever tried, but it’s oddly formulaic and kind of nostalgic with its high school setting and predictable mystery plot. If they were to throw in some early-2000s alternative rock tunes, the flashback storyline here wouldn’t look out of place in a lineup next to an early season episode of Smallville.

PAST

Ten years ago, Kara was fifteen and shared a bedroom with her adoptive sister, Alex Danvers. I’m a little confused because Kara was thirteen when she landed on Earth, and fifteen-year-old Kara and Alex hate each other so... have they just hated each other for almost two years straight? Or is all of this a result of tension caused by Jeremiah’s death that wasn’t really a death? I’m pretty sure Kara spent at least some time with Jeremiah as her adoptive father, so I have to assume that the rift between her and Alex is a result of Jeremiah being gone, in which case I have to wonder why nothing was mentioned in this episode about Kara and Alex previously getting along with each other. It’s kind of just assumed that they’ve been bitter rivals ever since Kara arrived on Earth, which does not make any sort of sense when you stop and think about the amount of time they would have been spending with each other. At least a year spent sharing a room, and it takes an investigative adventure to make Alex realize Kara isn’t to blame for every bad thing in her life? Doesn’t really make sense.

Let’s ignore the questionable continuity for now, though. Alex and Kara’s inability to get along continues even at school, where Alex does very little to help her adoptive sister along in the Midvale High sea of bullies and history teachers who, for some reason, have included the basic accomplishments of George Washington on a high school curriculum. Am I the only one who finds that weird? Hey, Midvale School Board: invest in some copies of Schoolhouse Rock because your kids are waaaay behind. I guess it works, though, since Kara is also way behind on her Earth history.

Little Kara’s only friend is a nerdy kid named Kenny Li, and since we’ve never heard of or seen this guy in the present day it’s not really a surprise when he winds up dead. It is sad though, since he and Kara were cute and enjoyed stargazing together and he was a really smart kid who designed a way to capture images onto his (suspiciously modern looking) laptop. Unfortunately for Kenny, being smart and having the ability to capture visual evidence of a small town’s misdeeds is a great way to make enemies.

As soon as Kara super-hears news of a male seventeen-year-old being found dead, she rushes to the scene and, yes, it’s Kenny. She immediately signs herself up for solving the mystery of his murder, since she feels like her superpowers mean she has a responsibility to help people, but also Kara seems like the sort of person who would probably help people regardless, so it’s pretty much inevitable. Kara calls out her classmates’ hypocrisy when she sees a loving memorial of photos and cards stuck to his locker, since no one actually knew Kenny or cared about him when he was alive. She confronts a jock she had seen bullying Kenny earlier, but his alibi is his mom.

When she goes to visit Kenny’s grieving parents, the sheriff tells her to stay out of the investigation — and so does just about everyone around Kara, except for Alex. Kara finds out that Alex was also friends with Kenny and knew him through tutoring and they agree to a truce so they can solve the Kenny case. We get a Smallville reference (Clark’s friend Chloe and her Wall of Weird) that really hammers home the similarities between that show and this flashback episode.

Like I said, the mystery is formulaic and predictable as Kara and Alex cross off shady small-town resident after shady small-town resident, running through the usual suspects of a jock, a teacher having an affair with a student (atrocious timing on that plot point, Supergirl), a brief suspicion of Kenny’s own father, and, finally, the actual culprit: the sheriff who originally told Kara to back off.

To be fair, the real point of the episode wasn’t to present a compelling mystery, but to show how Kara and Alex grew to be devoted sisters. Throughout their investigation we see them get closer to each other as they get closer to the truth of Kenny’s death. Kara saves Alex from nearly getting run off a bridge and Kara defies the orders of Eliza and an FBI Agent (secretly J’onn J’onzz, using Alura’s form, which I thought was really bizarre and kind of cruel considering that it forced Kara to endure a moment of thinking her mom was alive only to realize that she really wasn’t) to save Alex again when she realizes her sister was in the presence of the true killer. Alex, on her side of things, learned to have faith in Kara and trust that she would always be there to protect her as much as she wants to protect every other person in the world.

PRESENT

Presumably having shared the flashback of the episode, Kara and Alex wake up at their childhood home and apologize to each other for the fight they had the night before. Kara remembers Kenny, who had been the first person to make her feel connected to humanity, and how their journey to find his killer made her realize the great things she and Alex could accomplish together. Her opinion on her humanity changed after Mon-El’s departure, but Kara reaffirms that being with Alex makes her feel at home.

Next week: Mon-El is back and this show apparently thinks I’ll find him interesting if he has a beard. Spoiler: I won’t.

Other Things:

• I can’t believe Mon-El is returning already! I haven’t even properly prepared my ode to his dullness yet. I mean, should I use the usual rhyme scheme or try and switch it up? What rhymes with “beige” anyway?

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